It appears that the Warriors have lost another fan favorite on Thursday. Journeyman guard Gary Payton II, reportedly is finalizing a three-year, $28-million with the Portland Trail Blazers, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported late Thursday night, citing sources.
Free agent Gary Payton II is finalizing a three-year, $28 million deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2022
However, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Warriors Insider Monte Poole, reported, citing a source, that Golden State still has a “slim chance” to retain Payton, although it appears they’ve reached their limit in terms of what they can offer.
Source close to Gary Payton II: Warriors still have slim chance to retain GP2 but it appears they’ve hit their limit (TPMLE), which doesn’t compete with offer from Trail Blazers. He has history in Oregon and would be very comfortable in PDX.
— Monte Poole (@MontePooleNBCS) July 1, 2022
Payton played a vital role for the Warriors throughout the season, providing a spark on both offense and defense throughout Golden State’s NBA Finals run.
The Warriors reportedly were becoming less and less optimistic that they would be able to re-sign Payton, who was receiving better offers elsewhere before he ultimately agreed to join a Western Conference foe in the Blazers.
This season with the Warriors, Payton averaged 7.1 points per game, 3.5 rebounds 1.4 steals and 0.9 assists in 17.6 minutes played, while shooting 61.6 percent from the field and 35.8 percent from 3-point range.
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Payton will join a Blazers team featuring Damian Lillard, newly-extended Anfernee Simons, Josh Hart, and Jusuf Nurkić.
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